ACRYLIC BARRIERS IN DEMAND
Co-owner says Windsor company is busy with orders from retail, service sectors
Local company flooded with orders
Tearing down barriers between customers and employees has long been viewed as key to success, but the COVID-19 pandemic has reversed that thinking when it comes to health and safety.
The Windsor firm Protective Barrier Solutions (plexiglassbarrier.ca) has seen a surge of demand for its acrylic glass and aluminum barrier systems from businesses trying to reopen their doors safely.
“It’s gone from just an idea to giving $195,000 worth of quotes, a high percentage of which we got the business, since starting just six to eight weeks ago,” said co-owner Jonathan Wood, who also owns the HVAC firm Wood Mechanical.
“We’re using half the shop now, but getting ready to expand into the other half. It’s really growing.”
Wood, who has three other co-owners involved in the firm, said the idea for the business came out of a discussion on what barrier systems they’d seen variety stores and gas stations try to use.
After working with a friend who owns a hair salon to get a better understanding of a business’s needs, the group was able to put together a plan in three days.
“There’s really no one else locally doing this type of custom work,” Wood said. “You can order pre-cut panels online, mostly from overseas, but you got longer lead times.”
Wood said they generally need only three to seven days to have the product installed, though they have done next day delivery on a few jobs.
The company has seen strong demand particularly from the retail, service and professional sectors. Business owners are deciding to make the investment in permanent structures to protect themselves anticipating COVID -19 isn’t going to be the last pandemic to sweep across the continent.
“What sets us apart is our barriers look like a piece of furniture,” said director of marketing Steven Rivard.
“It’s the look that’s led to our success. It doesn’t look flimsy.”
Rivard added he feels such safety measures are going to become the new normal.
“Companies really should’ve had these barriers in place prior to COVID -19,” said Rivard, who is one of the company’s five employees.
“Places like pharmacies need them to protect employees from any illness, so they don’t bring it home to their own families. It’s going to help a lot of other businesses down the line.”
Wood said customers who have installed the barriers are surprised by what they couldn’t see before.
“They look at the barriers and they see all the spots and stuff that has built up on the barriers,” Wood said. “They never appreciated how much was being transmitted through the air.”
Starting a business during a pandemic has brought some unique challenges, especially around securing supply chains for raw materials.
However, with the ownership group’s connections in industry, they’ve been able to secure distributorship agreements with firms in Windsor, London, Toronto and are looking to add Michigan to the supply chain.
As word of Protective Barrier Solutions’ existence has spread, so has the customer base.
The City of Windsor and County of Essex are among the latest new customers.
“It started slow, but now we’re busy as our name has got out there,” Wood said.
“We have $20,000 worth of orders ready to be shipped out this week and next and a lot of back orders to fill.”
Because of the customized nature of their business, Wood said they’ve had some particularly interesting projects.
“The dental industry is really challenging because of the regulations set out by the Ontario Dental Association,” Wood said.
“Most dental offices are pretty wide open or half walls and you can’t be in there ripping things apart while they’re trying to restart business. We’ve had to measure and pre-build walls to install to close off rooms.”
Another unique project request came from a downtown Windsor restaurant. That business needed something that could withstand some bumping.
“They didn’t want something that was easily knocked over,” Wood said.
“We made it look like the glass and boards you’d see in arenas. It’s solid.”